The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olumide Akpata, has said that the embattled governor of Ebonyi, Dave Umahi, has apologised for his outburst against the Federal High Court judgment sacking him and his deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe.
Recall that Justice Inyang Ekwo of the high court had sacked Mr Umahi as governor of Ebonyi State over his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
In his reaction, the governor had accused the judge of doing a hatched job.
Issuing a statement on his Facebook page, the NBA President said the governor had backtracked on his comments and apologized to Justice Ekwo and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Muhammad Tanko, and the judiciary as a whole.
Mr Akpata said: “On 9th March 2022, I issued a statement unequivocally condemning the reaction of H.E. Engr. Dave Umahi, the Governor of Ebonyi State to the judgment of the FHC Abuja which ordered him and his Deputy to vacate office. I also demanded an apology and a retraction of the comments.
“Following that statement, H.E. Engr. Umahi made extensive efforts to reach me and in the course of our conversation, I reiterated that the NBA has no interest in the case other than to ensure that the sanctity of the judicial system is protected and the rule of law respected.
“In line with our demands, H.E. Engr. Umahi addressed a cross-section of Ebonyi State citizens, where he unreservedly apologised for his comments, clarified his intentions and very importantly too, called for calm from his supporters while urging them to refrain from denigrating the Judiciary.
“I will immediately transmit this apology to His Lordship, Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo and My Lord the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, who is the head of the Judiciary in Nigeria, and urge them to also accept same.
“I must restate for the sake of emphasis that there is a well-established procedure for challenging unfavourable decisions of courts of competent jurisdiction and the NBA under my administration will continue to fulfil its mandate by rising to the defence of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, and the sanctity of court orders.
“Now that the right thing has been done and the appeal process has been activated, we shall resume our backseat and allow the process to take its course.
“As far as the NBA is concerned, this brings an end to this unfortunate episode but we hope that important lessons have been learnt.”
